The number of U.S. oil drilling rigs were unchanged this week after eight weeks of consecutive rises, according to a closely followed report on Friday, although traders and analysts expect the rig count to keep rising given the recovery in crude prices. The rig count remained steady at 406 in the week to Aug. 26, compared with 675 a year ago, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said. . Before this week, the rig count rose by 76 since the week ended July 1, the most in a row since April 2014, after crude prices hit the key $50-a-barrel mark that made a return to the well pad viable. “Rigs are going to continue to climb,” said John Kilduff, partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. “We are in a price environment where there are an increasing number of fields that are profitable, […]